Candlelight
by I Was Divided by Zero
Summary: This is a short story about a girl living in Harmony explaining her new sight and how it affects everything she does. Because the book never really goes into deep details about it, I thought it would be interesting to write about what I think it would be like to try to explain seeing things after being blind your entire life.


**Hello network! This is what I wrote for my English class final project after I read the book Truesight. I honestly loved the book, and it's got a great science fiction concept. I'm waiting for the sequel at the library. ****This is a short story about a nameless girl living in Harmony explaining her new sight and how it affects everything she does. Because the book never really goes into deep details about it, I thought it would be interesting to write about what I think it would be like to try to explain seeing things after being blind your entire life. Enjoy!**

* * *

Light flickered off the wooden planks of my house's floor. The shadow of my desk was fascinating. I reached out to run my hand along the clearly visible silhouette of my bedspread created by the candlelight. It was beautiful. It was a sin. All of it. The fire should've been used only for warmth. Not light. And now, in the summer, when we had the sun to heat the planet, if someone caught me with a candle, they'd find out my secret for sure. I lived in a colony of blind people. And I could see.

I chuckled to myself. _In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king. In a land of darkness, the man with the candle is a target. _Now I had the candle and the sight. It had always been a dream of mine, ever since I was small, to see. I had learned to keep my wishes to myself early. Sight was a sin, a betrayal of Truesight. But now, at almost thirteen years of age, my wish had finally come true. I never once had told anyone. Of course, no one ever directly asked me about my sight, they'd have no reason to question it. I even promised myself weeks ago, when my vision first started developing, that if anyone asked, I'd tell the truth. Not telling the truth isn't the same as lying.

So now I was a Seer. Yesterday, it had become official. My vision had finally focused, and I couldn't ignore it anymore. Before that, I had kept my eyes closed. It had felt silly. I always sneaked peeks, of course. It was impossible not to. Now, my vision was sharp and clear. And it had stayed like that. Everything was different, like learning about the whole world over again. I got to experience beauty for the second time. One of my first memories when I was little was my first song that I had played on the flute. Something to elegant and graceful coming from me! Something I, myself, had made!

But now, I got to experience all that again. The little moving, dancing light of the candle was just like my first flute song. I had made this little light, all by myself with some matches I'd found.

I held the candle wick close to my face. I went cross-eyed by bringing it closer. That was a strange experience. Crossing my eyes was amusing, but it hurt too. The tiny flame danced across my vision, while the rest of the room blurred away. The heat of the candle made my face itch. I took it away for a second and closed my eyes. All that light was an overdose. I knew that I'd damage my sight permanently if I looked into a candle or at the sun for too long. The candle was a lovely color. I'd never known what colors were before. It's kind of hard to explain. I guess it's all just different shades of the black and darkness I was always used to. But lighter. Warmer. Yes, that was the word. The colors of the candle were just that: _warm._ Just like the colors of the ponds and the fountains around the colony were _cold._

Suddenly, I felt something painful on my finger.

"Ouch!" I let go of the candle and recoiled my arm, bringing it to my mouth. I tasted wax. The candle wax had burned my finger. The candle that I'd dropped onto my desk. I realized what I'd done too late. I could feel the warmth coming from everywhere at once. Both the desk and the bed had caught fire, being so closely cramped together. I jumped up and ran for the door to my room. The gold Sounder pin on my shirt started wailing. They did that when they sensed too much smoke. I coughed and ran to wake my mother and father, but they were already up.

"What's happening?" my mother shrieked at me. In the firelight I could see the panicked expression on her face, though her eyes were blank and unseeing.

"Fire!" I screamed back above the sound of the screeching Sounders.

My family and I stumbled towards the front door. When we got outside, the cool night air felt like such the opposite of the blazing fire. The house was mostly made out of wood, so I imagined it would burn quickly.

"What caused it!?" my father nearly screamed.

I swallowed. I had promised that if they asked... "It was me. It was my candle." I said quietly.

My mother reached out and touched her hand to my face lightly. "Sweetie, what in the world would you be doing with a candle?"


End file.
